Summary

The last two World Champions, Sinan Samil Sam of Turkey (1999) and Georgi Kandelaki of Georgia (1997), were not in Sydney, both having turned professional. But the runners-up from those years were – Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov of Kazakhstan (1999) and Alexis Rubalcaba of Cuba (1997). They met in the quarter-finals with Dildabekov winning easily, 25-12. He went on to the final where he faced Britain's Audley Harrison, the 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medalist. The final was somewhat close for two rounds, but Harrison pulled away in the final two to win the gold medal, 30-16, despite fighting with an injured knuckle.

Harrison turned professional after Sydney and had a decent career, still fighting through 2012, but has not won a world title. Dildabekov continued to fight as an amateur, coming back to the Olympics in 2004, where he lost in the quarter-finals.

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